ultimate

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin ultimātus (“furthest, last”), past participle of Latin ultimō, ultimāre (“to come to an end”), from ultimus (“last, final”). See ultra-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈʌltɪmɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈʌltəmɪt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

ultimate (not comparable)

1. Final; last in a series.
   • 1677, Robert Plot, “Of the Heavens and Air”, in The natural history of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England‎^[1], page 15:

     […] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]

2. (of a syllable) Last in a word or other utterance.
3. Being the greatest possible; maximum; most extreme.

   the ultimate pleasure

   the ultimate disappointment

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:

     Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

4. Being the most distant or extreme; farthest.
5. That will happen at some time; eventual.
6. Last in a train of progression or consequences; tended toward by all that precedes; arrived at, as the last result; final.
   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection

     those ultimate truths and those universal laws of thought which we cannot rationally contradict

7. Incapable of further analysis; incapable of further division or separation; constituent; elemental.

   an ultimate constituent of matter

Synonyms

• (final): See Thesaurus:final
• (most extreme): utmost, uttermost

Antonyms

• (w.r.t. causes): initial, original
• (most extreme): original, derivative

Coordinate terms

• (adjectives denoting syllables): penultimate (last but one), antepenultimate (last but two), preantepenultimate (last but three), propreantepenultimate (last but four)

Derived terms

• antepenultimate
• penultimate
• ultimateness

 

Related terms

• ulterior
• ultimatum
• ultra
• ultra-

 

Translations

final; last in a series

• Dutch: definitief (nl)
• Finnish: viimeinen (fi)
• French: dernier (fr)
• Galician: último (gl)
• Georgian: საბოლოო (saboloo), უკანასკნელი (uḳanasḳneli)
• German: ^{(please verify)} letzter (de), ultimativ (de)
• Greek: τελικός (el) (telikós)
• Hungarian: utolsó (hu)
• Indonesian: pamungkas (id)
• Italian: ultimo (it) m, ultima (it) f
• Japanese: 終わりの (ja) (owari no), 最後の (ja) (saigo no)

• Macedonian: по́следен m (pósleden), кра́ен m (kráen), за́вршен m (závršen), ко́нечен m (kónečen)
• Norwegian: endelig (no)
• Polish: ostatni (pl) m
• Portuguese: último (pt) m, última (pt) f
• Russian: после́дний (ru) (poslédnij), оконча́тельный (ru) (okončátelʹnyj), кра́йний (ru) (krájnij), заверши́тельный (ru) (zaveršítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: último (es), final (es)
• Swedish: ultimat (sv), slutlig (sv), slutgiltig (sv)
• Ukrainian: оста́нній (uk) (ostánnij), остато́чний (ostatóčnyj), кра́йній (krájnij)

last in a word or other utterance

• Finnish: viimeinen (fi), loppu-
• Hungarian: hátsó (hu), hátulsó, leghátsó, leghátulsó

greatest or maximum

• Esperanto: la plej granda, pleja, maksimuma
• Estonian: ülim
• Finnish: äärimmäinen (fi), korkein (fi)
• Georgian: უკიდურესი (uḳiduresi), მაქსიმალური (maksimaluri)
• German: ultimativ (de)
• Greek: μέγιστος (el) (mégistos), απόλυτος (el) (apólytos)
• Hebrew: אולטימטיבי‎ (ultimatívi)
• Hungarian: végső (hu)
• Indonesian: pamungkas (id)
• Italian: estremo (it) m, estrema (it) f

• Japanese: 究極の (kyūkyoku no)
• Macedonian: на́јголем m (nájgolem), врвен m (vrven)
• Norwegian: ultimat
• Polish: największy m, najwyższy m
• Russian: наибо́льший (ru) (naibólʹšij), наивы́сший (ru) (naivýsšij)
• Spanish: máximo (es), extremo (es), mayor (es)
• Swedish: slutliga (sv)
• Ukrainian: найбі́льший (uk) (najbílʹšyj), максима́льний (uk) (maksymálʹnyj)

most distant

• Finnish: etäisin, kaukaisin
• Georgian: უკიდურესი (uḳiduresi)
• German: äußerster (de)
• Hungarian: legtávolabbi, legkülső
• Macedonian: најда́лечен m (najdálečen)

• Russian: наидальне́йший (naidalʹnéjšij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: najdalji (sh)

• Spanish: último (es)
• Ukrainian: найвідда́леніший (najviddálenišyj)

eventual

• Finnish: lopullinen (fi)
• Italian: definitivo (it) m, definitiva (it) f, conclusivo (it) m, conclusiva (it) f, ultimativo (it) m, ultimativa (it) f, finale (it)
• Macedonian: ко́нечен m (kónečen), кра́ен m (kráen)

• Russian: коне́чный (ru) (konéčnyj), оконча́тельный (ru) (okončátelʹnyj)
• Ukrainian: остато́чний (ostatóčnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ultiem (nl), ^{(please verify)} laatst (nl), ^{(please verify)} uiteindelijk (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} ultime (fr)

• German: ^{(please verify)} ultimativ (de)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} ultimus

Noun

ultimate (countable and uncountable, plural ultimates)

1. The most basic or fundamental of a set of things
2. The final or most distant point; the conclusion
3. The greatest extremity; the maximum
4. (uncountable) The game of ultimate frisbee.

Translations

the greatest extremity

• Finnish: äärimmäisyys (fi), ääri (fi)
• Maori: ikeiketanga

ultimate frisbee — see ultimate frisbee

Verb

ultimate (third-person singular simple present ultimates, present participle ultimating, simple past and past participle ultimated)

1. (transitive, archaic) To finish; to complete.
   • 1869, The New-Jerusalem Magazine (volume 41, page 36)

     These measures have been carried forward with a zeal and unanimity that warrant the hope we entertain, of ultimating the plans in respect to our Temple, before the next meeting of the Maryland Association.

Further reading

• ultimate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ultimate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• mutilate

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Finnish

Etymology

From English ultimate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈultimɑte/, [ˈult̪iˌmɑt̪e̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑte
• Syllabification: ul‧ti‧ma‧te

Noun

ultimate

1. ultimate frisbee (game)

Declension

Inflection of ultimate (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		ultimate	ultimatet
genitive		ultimaten	ultimatejen
partitive		ultimatea	ultimateja
illative		ultimateen	ultimateihin
		singular	plural
nominative		ultimate	ultimatet
accusative	nom.	ultimate	ultimatet
	gen.	ultimaten
genitive		ultimaten	ultimatejen ultimateinrare
partitive		ultimatea	ultimateja
inessive		ultimatessa	ultimateissa
elative		ultimatesta	ultimateista
illative		ultimateen	ultimateihin
adessive		ultimatella	ultimateilla
ablative		ultimatelta	ultimateilta
allative		ultimatelle	ultimateille
essive		ultimatena	ultimateina
translative		ultimateksi	ultimateiksi
instructive		—	ultimatein
abessive		ultimatetta	ultimateitta
comitative		—	ultimateineen

Possessive forms of ultimate (type nalle)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	ultimateni	ultimatemme
2nd person	ultimatesi	ultimatenne
3rd person	ultimatensa

Anagrams

• amuletit, amuletti, laitumet, leimattu, leimatut

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Italian

Verb

ultimate

1. inflection of ultimare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
   3. feminine plural past participle

Anagrams

• multiate, mutilate

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ul.tiˈmaː.te/, [ʊɫ̪t̪ɪˈmäːt̪ɛ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ul.tiˈma.te/, [ul̪t̪iˈmɑːt̪ɛ]

Verb

ultimāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ultimō